The Good Wife Season 5
http://feelthefilms.wordpress.com/2013/12/19/a-subpoena-to-watch-the-g ood-wife-season-5/
Published in the Penn State Altoona Collegiate Review on December 16th 2013
The Good Wife premiered in 2009, created by Robert and Michelle King on CBS as television show with cerebral effects. Alicia Florrick (Julianna Margulies) is the wife of a corrupt politician, Peter Florrick (Chris Noth), whose sexual indiscretions with prostitutes left his wife embarrassed and broken.
Alicia returned to work as a lawyer for the firm Lockhart Gardner, working under a man she was romantically attached to in college, Will Gardner (Josh Charles). The show acts as a satire at times for real-life court cases and political matters, enthralled us all with the case of the week, and has pulled us into a love triangle we cannot get enough of between Alicia, Peter, and Will.
Alicia returned to work as a lawyer for the firm Lockhart Gardner, working under a man she was romantically attached to in college, Will Gardner (Josh Charles). The show acts as a satire at times for real-life court cases and political matters, enthralled us all with the case of the week, and has pulled us into a love triangle we cannot get enough of between Alicia, Peter, and Will.
This past September, the fifth season commenced. The season four finale concluded with a shock so jolting, we knew season five was going to be a hurricane. Alicia determined she was leaving Lockhart Gardner along with co-worker Cary Agos (Matt Czurhcy), another fourth-year associate at the firm, to start their own firm.
Her actions were motivated by the temptation of Will that never ceases, and the hope to repair her marriage with Peter. Last season’s finale primarily focused on Peter winning the election for governor of Illinois. This newfound power gave Alicia and Cary leverage to sway Lockhart Gardner's top clients into transferring to their firm, Florrick Agos, for their legal concerns.
The first three episodes were respectable, but there was something that didn't feel like the season was in full gear yet. The classic “trying to keep ‘a secret’ a secret” routine was the undertone of these early episodes. Each season has a different feel to it, but thus far season five felt like an epilogue for season four.
Episode four, “Outside the Bubble,” was the first glimpse of the masterpiece that waited ahead. Lockhart Gardner’s other name client, Diane Lockhart (Christine Baranski), was being voted out of the firm, but not before she learned of Alicia and Cary’s plan to leave with clients. Diane broke the news to Will in the final moments.
On Oct. 27, 2013, everything changed in episode five, “Hitting the Fan,” which is the best episode of the series. Will exploded, Alicia and Cary were fired, Peter began his dirty political tricks again, and Lockhart Gardner went toe-to-toe with Florrick Agos vying for their top client. The Internet went wild over all this! Critics raved about The Good Wife and the show’s staff tweeted their loyal, satisfied, and excited fans.
Since then, CBS has followed up with consistently outstanding episodes in “The Next Day” (Nov. 3, 2013), “The Next Week” (Nov. 10, 2013), “The Next Month” (Nov. 17, 2013), “Whack-a-Mole” (Nov. 24, 2013), and “The Decision Tree” (Dec. 1, 2013).
“We love shades of grey…” said the writers of the show, via Twitter.
The brilliance about what’s been put into action this season is the moral ambiguity. In other television shows, the protagonists and antagonists are established and the series plays out. For the past four years, we have come to know and love all the main characters of The Good Wife. Now the six main characters have been split into separate teams, and the show never spells out which characters we should root for as the Lockhart Gardner/Forrick Agos war proceeds.
This is one of the best shows on network television and will likely get a slew of Emmy nominations for this season’s tremendous accomplishments. This season may be the show’s chance to finally snatch the Best Drama Series trophy after losing for almost every season. Season five encourages us to use our brains, hearts, and laughter.
My suggestion for everyone is to reserve your Sunday nights to watch The Good Wife. Intelligent, addicting, and most of the time uncomfortably funny, this is the type of show that deserves to be watched, enjoyed, hailed, and proud to say you watch every week. A perfect fit for adults, but a great niche for young adults to transition and mature their television interests.
Watch The Good Wife, on CBS, Sunday nights, 9 p.m.
Feel the Films: A Blog by RCS - http://feelthefilms.wordpress.com/